1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information transmission apparatus for transmitting information by an e-mail, a facsimile or the like, more particularly to an address book storing a transmission destination in the information transmission apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
Office equipment such as a copying apparatus is recently shifting to an electronic configuration, and there is increasing a product capable not only of copying an original image on paper but also transmitting data, read from an original, to a host computer through an e-mail. Such office equipment, having plural functions further including a facsimile function, is called a multifunction peripheral (MFP).
On the other hand, such MFP is usually utilized in an office by plural users. Also an address book, storing transmission destinations of e-mails, is used in common by plural users.
With an increase in the number of users, the destination addresses need to be classified by users or by divisions.
FIG. 22 is a schematic view of an operating image for an address book in such information transmission apparatus, in which transmission addresses can be classified by divisions.
In an example shown in FIG. 22, an address book for “First Development Section” and an address book for “Second Development Section” can be switched by a divisional address switching pull-down list 2201 at the center of the image.
Also, it may be required not only to classify the address book but also not to show the address information of own division to unrelated persons. For example, an operator may erroneously use customer address information of another division thereby resulting in a divulging of information.
For such difficulty, a method utilizing an access code is effective. It is possible to only display, on an address book, addresses that matches an access code entered by the operator and authenticated.
FIG. 23 is a schematic view showing an operation image for entering an access code in case of utilizing an address book in an information transmission apparatus of this kind.
By entering an access code in the operation image shown in FIG. 23, the address book only displays addresses which matches the access code and which can thus be utilized as transmission destinations for the information.
Such function allows to prevent the information from being observed by an unauthorized person and to prevent erroneous operation. Such technology is described in patent reference 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-024881).
However, in a deeper consideration, from the standpoint of the user, of such apparatus in an environment installed in an actual office and is utilized by various users, there may possibly occur a situation where it becomes desirable to cause the address book, which is inhibited from being viewed or utilized by unauthorized personnel, to be used by those other than the authorized personnel.
As an example, let us consider a situation where a user currently out of the office wishes to transmit, to a customer by e-mail, a document owned by the user in his office. In such situation, it is probable that the user, being currently out of the office, will ask his colleague in the office to transmit such document to the customer. In such situation, it is necessary to allow the colleague to use the address book of the user through the operation unit of the aforementioned apparatus.
Therefore, the user out of the office tells his access code for example by telephone to the colleague in the office, who then opens the address book of the user in the apparatus and uses the e-mail address in the address book as the address for transmission.
Thus the user can achieve his wish by asking the transmission of his document to the colleague present in his office, but, since the access code is entered by such colleague, the e-mail addresses of the customers of the user may be looked at by the colleague. In this manner, there can be foreseen a drawback that user's private information may be seen by another person in case of asking a job to such another person.
Such drawback, leading to a divulging of an access code or address information in case of a mere designation of a destination, is undesirable from the standpoint of security (first drawback).
On the other hand, the destination information will become visible from a transmission history report which is printed out at a predetermined time. A similar situation occurs in a transmission history image that can be viewed on an operation panel.
More specifically, the MFP has a communication management reporting function of printing out a list of transmitted/received data for the purpose of apparatus management, and, in such report, a time of communication and a name of the communication destination are printed out in a list.
Such communication management report is undesirable from the standpoint of security, as it also displays address information of the destination, such as a telephone number and an e-mail address of the destination, in addition to the aforementioned name of the destination.
However, if the printing or viewing of the history is all prohibited, it will not be possible to confirm the presence of the communication itself. Thus there is anticipated a drawback (second drawback) that the operation status of the apparatus will become difficult to manage.
Still another drawback arises from a fact that a broadcast transmission is possible at the transmission of information.
For example, in case a user with a malicious intent adds, in a broadcast transmission of an original image, another address to the destination, such information will become known to the third persons. Also in case of an e-mail, the addresses of all the destinations will become visible by removing the header information of the mail (third drawback).